April 2010

1. I'm ordering from head2toe beauty but i'm not sure what kind of shipping I should choose. I'll be in La jolla California for a week so I'm going to send my package there. there is a choice for USPS priority shipping, it only costs me about $7.00. head2toe beauty doesn't say how long it takes but when I googled USPS the website said that it takes 2-3 days to arrive at destination. UPS 3 days shipping costs $14. that's like double the price of usps but about the same shipping/ arrival time. What is the difference? Is USPS not reliable or takes more than 3 days?

2. Anyway make up look:I wanted to enter a make up look to Glamorous Geek Chic's inspiration contest but I didn't have a good explanation for what inspired my look so I entered a nail design instead. But i'll post it here to show you guys who I am. well part of my face anyways.here's the picture you worked with

here's what I came up with from looking at the picture for inspiration

3. Nails. This is the nail design I entered in the contest. everyone knows I hate glitter due to the removal ...but it's so pretty...so I used fake nails, glitterfied them, taped them on my nails, took pictures, removed them. hehehe. btw you can click on the picture to make the image bigger. I don't know why it looks so blurry on my blog. Funny thing is I didn't know doing a glitter gradient was so much work thought..I was exhausted after doing these nails. Anyway so go to Glamorous Geek Chic's website and check out the designs. If you are one of GGC's followers go Vote for the design you relate to the most.

oh btw one more thing. you may notice that there are 2 authors to this blog. Juli and I. Juli's a friend of mine that floats around comments here and there but she's really busy so most posts are mine. I think when she does post she will write her name on the bottom of the posts.

I just wanted to say that I bought super cheap glitter from Michaels. It's about $4 with a coupon and it works great for nail art. If you pour it into nail polish for a franken the glitter loses it's color and turns silver..not good, but sprinkle it on top of your nail and slap on a top coat it works beautifully.

And I have a nail design that I really like but it's super annoying. I just want to pick it off. It's 3d due to the rhinestones and that really bothers me. I don't think can handle 3d nail art. =(materials:

Just some plain picture.So here's picture of my plain nails with my uneven nail beds =p I think I'm going to try to square them a bit. Not a lot of yellowing so that's pretty good. I think that yellowing was prevented due to this: Nutra nail green tea nail strengthener. I started using it because my nails were peeling quite a bit and this was on sale so I said let's try it. It forms a really really shiny base coat/ top coat (you can use it for both) and it forms a plastic like protective coat

I knew this was good when.....What happened was that my nail broke slightly on the side but it was still attached to my nail. I didn't want to cut it off so I applied several thin coats of this thing. And it sort of formed a thin plastic like sheath over my nail and really protected it, and the best part about it is that it isn't chunky. I want to say it's like having a very very thin piece of acrylic nail on top of your nail but i've never had acrylics so I can't really say.

It was really easy to apply and took about 3 coats....therefore not really great as a nail stamping polish. I think it works well ifblack nail polish is applied and then celeb city is stamped on top but I have never tried it yet....I did try on it on a black binder/ book and it showed up A BIT (not as good as china glaze chromes). Quite shiny I like. Could be a dupe for orly foil FX shine. I don't own any orly but I've seen quite a few pictures and they look similar.

**At one point in my life I worked as a drug researcher and I worked on anti-depressants and this finding is a huge breakthrough for drug companies.**also apparently a lot of bloggers are currently struggling with depression so I though this post was relevant

Canadian Researchers find brain link between anxiety and depression

By Laura Stone, Canwest News Service

OTTAWA – Scientists have always known that anxiety and depression were linked. They just couldn't prove it in the brain -- until now.

A discovery about the cellular link between anxiety and depression by Canadian university researchers may provide a better way to treat depression, a condition that affects as much as 20 per cent of this country's population.

"We hadn't known the mechanism by which these two things were physically related," said Stephen Ferguson, a researcher at Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario.

"Basically, what we're finding is that there's talk between these two receptor systems in the brain, and that if you activate the one receptor system the other becomes sensitized."

The findings, published in a study released Sunday in the journal Nature Neuroscience, also reveal a way to block this link in the brain and potentially reduce anxiety and improve the way depression is treated.

It all has to do with the receptor systems -- made up of proteins on brain cells, which react to neurotransmitters and are the target of depression medication because they are involved in perception and mood -- and the way they activate multiple brain functions.

By finding a link that can now be isolated and blocked by a small molecular inhibitor developed by Ferguson, doctors may be able to develop more successful medication for depression by treating anxiety.

"Most drugs that are used for the treatment of depression block everything the receptor does and what we're doing is blocking one single function, which may allow for the development of drugs with less side effects in the future," said Ferguson.

"If we can block this anxiety-related increase in depression by targeting just one cellular process that these receptors are activating, maybe we can leave other ones intact, reducing the intolerable side effects of these drugs," he said.

The research was conducted on mice and took about five years to complete. It also involved Ferguson's colleagues from the University of Western Ontario, where he teaches pharmacy and physiology, and others, including Carleton University neuroscience professor Hymie Anisman.

Anisman said anxiety is often a precursor to depression, or can make it worse. He said depression medication typically only works for about 60 per cent of patients.

"Now that we know where things are happening in the brain, now we can target these sites to develop treatments to ameliorate anxiety or depression in a way that's better than the ones that currently exist," said Anisman.

The study was funded in part by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

I was entering a contest and one of the questions that we were asked to answer was:

”What adds a little bit opulence/decadence/luxury or simply what make you feel so RICH when you’re so not?”My take on it was: when you feel done what makes you feel better?

My answer is 65 red roses --> http://65redroses.livejournal.comShe is a girl who suffered from cystic fibrosis and I remembered reading a post from her mother asking her what she missed the post in her life. She replied that she missed feeling the pressure change when you enter a supermarket, a hotel, any place with vacuum doors; she missed being able to sit at different heights in different chairs.Eva, the author, lived a majority of her life in a hospital bed at the same height.She inspired me to hang on and that my situation is not truly that bad because she appreciates the little things in life that we take forgranted. I never considered being able to sit in different types of chairs a luxury…but it is...for Eva.I have the privilege to sit in a chair or sit on the floor. One month before Eva passed away she recorded a message on youtube addressing the fact that she would pass away soon.People refer to it as her last message, her message on death.I think it takes a lot of courage to face death and to acknowledge it.Thinking about her and her courage makes me realize that I’ll be okay..it will pass…it’s nothing. So when I feel hopeless…I think of Eva,she didn’t give up, her hope never faltered, even when given notice that the end was near, Eva was hopeful she would get a lung transplant.My troubles are nothing compared to what Eva went through and her willpower and strengthEva and 65 red roses

Some nail art I did for the blooming of cherry blossoms. click on the picture to zoom in.

I'm not too pleased with:

the execution, I got tired and it's rather sloppy

the nail shape. I was planning to try fake nails since I have never worn any but i'm not sure if I could get used to the feeling...anyways I don't think I like my natural nails to be shaped ovalish. My hands are rather fat and these rounded nails may make my fat hands fatter..hmm

I wanted to check on my nails...whether they had yellowed or not so I took off my nail polish. They looked okay and I couldn't decide what color to paint them so I decided to do a quite purple french tip.this is the longest I have ever had my nails ever. it's crazy long for me. The problem is my nail beds are crazy that is why my french tip isn't super even. oh wells

blogger is not being very nice today. some of my comments show........some don't show.......some are erased...........what? how does that even happen.

blargh

minor rant:

woke up early, took the bus to class. it takes me about 2 hours to get to school. 30 mins into the journey I get a text message from my partner telling me she is in bed sick.........argh..................she knows it takes me a long time to go to school.....our report is due thursday..........come on. If I was sick I would still force myself to get to school as the assignment needs to be done....well unless I had h1n1 or SARS or stomuch flu. it isnt that bad..I understand you are sick...except that she is also the partner who didn't finish her part of the assignment so we got a crap mark on it...and also changed the presentation slides after we had already rehearsed so that when I presented I looked like an idiot as many of my slides were missing...and is late for every meeting we have ever had.